The Southeastern Conference matchup that featured the Gators winning every meeting from 1984 to 2017 will be played again on Saturday but in a much different light than its lopsided past.
Kentucky is not historically a dominant college football program. The Wildcats hold three 10-win seasons, fewer than Florida has registered since 2012. They also haven’t recruited at the rate Florida has. The Gators have brought in higher-ranked recruiting classes than Kentucky every year since recruiting rankings began in 1999.
None of that matters on Saturday, though.
While Florida’s history and theoretical talent gap over Kentucky suggest that the Gators will win in two days at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, that hasn’t been the theme recently. The Wildcats have taken four of the last six matchups, most recently dominating UF 33-14 last season. So, when the Gators take the field Saturday night, their historical dominance and recruiting star power may make home fans confident, but the contest’s result is nowhere close to set in stone.
And the Gators know that.
“I respect them,” Gators head coach Billy Napier said Wednesday evening. “I just expect it to be ugly. They do a good job. They play complementary football. I think they’re tough.”
Napier would know how “tough” Kentucky is after losing to the Wildcats in each of his first two seasons at the helm of the Gators’ program. Kentucky’s offense in the matchups outperformed Florida’s, but more notably, it was picked apart by Kentucky’s stringent defense.
In 2022, Florida entered its early September meeting with the Wildcats riding the high of defeating No. 7 Utah to commence Napier’s tenure. Subsequently, Kentucky shell-shocked Anthony Richardson and company for 60 minutes behind a dominant defensive performance. UK held Florida to a goose egg in the second half while Richardson threw two picks.
Last season was much the same. Kentucky never let Florida sniff a lead, sacked Graham Mertz three times and forced another turnover en route to its largest victory over the Gators since 1979.
After the past two years, Napier recognizes the abnormal challenges Kentucky’s defense…
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